UNIFIL Says Israeli Forces Destroyed Some of its Property Along Border with Lebanon

A convoy of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) vehicles drive in the Marjayoun area in southern Lebanon, to accompany Lebanese Red Cross ambulances on November 8, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by AFP)

The United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon said Friday that Israeli forces deliberately destroyed some of its property in violation of international law.
The force, known as UNIFIL, is in southern Lebanon to monitor the border between Israel and Lebanon.
UNIFL said in a statement that the Israeli military used two excavators and a bulldozer to destroy part of a fence and a concrete structure at the peacekeeping mission’s position in Ras Naqoura on Thursday. UNIFIL said that in response to its “urgent protest," the Israeli army denied any activity was taking place inside the UNIFIL position.
UNIFIL also said the Israeli military this week destroyed and removed two blue barrels that mark the border.
The statement was accompanied by a photo of one blue barrel on its side and a short video of an excavator working in an area where a UN flag was flying.
Since Israel launched a ground war in Lebanon in September, UNIFIL has accused its military of shooting and wounding peacekeepers and attacking UNIFIL positions.
The Israeli military has repeatedly demanded that peacekeepers leave their positions for their safety.
“Yesterday’s incident, like seven other similar incidents, is not a matter of peacekeepers getting caught in the crossfire, but of deliberate and direct actions by the IDF,” the UNIFIL statement said.